


When the Villains Fall, the Kingdoms Never Weep

by dancingsweetheart129



Category: Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Self-Sacrifice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-28
Updated: 2018-11-28
Packaged: 2019-09-01 13:51:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16766416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dancingsweetheart129/pseuds/dancingsweetheart129
Summary: "You're up, Dickie," Jason said, turning to the oldest."No, Jason, I'll go last," Dick insisted."You can't lift me, Dick, not with your arm like that," Jason shook his head. "Let’s go before we both go down.""Jayce," Dick mumbled, but he knew Jason was right. His arm was useless. "Well get you out."





	When the Villains Fall, the Kingdoms Never Weep

**Author's Note:**

> enjoy, i just wanted to write this.

Jason could feel the floor shift below him, there was no way this building was staying up for long.

"We have to get out of here," Jason said, turning to Bruce. The man nodded at him.

His eyes searched for a way that wasn't down, the lower half of the tower was partially on fire, up was the only way.

And that skylight was their key.

"B, bust out that skylight," Jason said, pointing. "If we go up we can get across to the next one over."

"I'll get a line set," Bruce nodded, rushing over and bursting out onto the roof, getting the line set to get everyone safely over to the rooftop of the next one. Jason turned, waved over the others who were trying to tend to their injuries enough to get out. Damian was still pretty dizzy, Tim was limping, Steph was cradling her arm, and Dicks shoulder looked swollen even in uniform.

"Come on, kiddies, no time to waste," Jason said, holding out his arms. Damian was first to be pushed forward, and Jason passed him up to B. "Go with him, he's not okay to get across by himself!" He shouted over the sound of the wind outside and whatever alarm was uselessly going off inside the building.

Bruce nodded, grabbing hold of the zip attached to the line and running for the roof edge.

"Alright, Timmy, come on," Jason helped the kid hobble forward, grabbed him by his tiny waist and hoisted him up high enough so he could grab the window frame and pull himself up. He turned around in time to see Jason holding a hand out to Stephanie.

"You're up, Chicky," he said, but Steph was shaking her head, the floor shifting again. Everyone gasped, and Jason looked up at Tim who was waiting for her. "Yes, Steph."

"No, not without you," she said, and Jason took her hand, pulled her in for a quick kiss that wasn’t enough for what he was doing but they had a time crunch.

"The baby needs you, Stephie," he said, grunting as he lifted her. He was pretty sure he had a cracked rib or two but his adrenaline was getting him through this.

"Jay," Stephanie tried to protest, wiggling to be put down, but Tim was grabbing her good arm and pulling her through the hole in the roof. "Jason!" She called, trying to turn back. Tim grabbed her around the middle, stopping her from going down into the building again, though she was struggling against his hold.

"Tim, make her go!" He called up, and Tim nodded, Jason could see the fear in his eyes as the building shifted again.

"Steph, we have to go," Tim said, grabbing hold of her as tight as he could and hooking up the zip line. He could hear Stephanie call for him again as they hurried towards the roof edge.

"You're up, Dickie," Jason said, turning to the oldest.

"No, Jason, I'll go last," Dick insisted.

"You can't lift me, Dick, not with your arm like that," Jason shook his head. "Let’s go before we both go down."

"Jayce," Dick mumbled, but he knew Jason was right. His arm was useless. "Well get you out."

"Don't worry about me," Jason cupped his hands. Dick stepped into them, letting Jason launch him up and grabbing the roof, pulling himself out, his shoulder burning. He turned around, holding a hand out to Jason.

And then the building was falling.

He could hear Dick screeching out his name, saw the panic on his face. He hadn't gotten Dick out in time.

"Go!" Jason yelled, and he saw Dick grab the line before reaching for him again.

But then something hit his head and he didn't remember much after that.

Dick reached out a hand to grab Jason by wrist, and the extra weight made his shoulder scream as they fell. He had to hold on, he just had to or Jason would be falling the 10 stories down.

"Jason!" Dick called, hoping to wake him up. But then they were hitting the wall of the safe building, and Dick could hear the sickly thwack Jason's head made when it hit the brick.

"Dick, secure him, we'll pull you up," Bruce said over the coms, and Dick felt tears spring to his eyes. He tried to pull, but the pain was blinding on his bad arm. It wasn’t strong enough to lift Jason no matter how hard he tried.

"I can't, Bruce, my arm is messed up," Dick cried. "Hurry and pull us up, I can't hold onto him long, he's out cold."

The line jerked as it started to retract, and Dick could feel his shoulder wrench, more tears falling from his eyes out of pain.

"Bruce, I can't hold him, please," he let out a sob, gripping Jason's arm as tight as he could. But the damn jacket, the sleeve was slipping a little. "Bruce, he's slipping."

"Just a little bit longer," Bruce bit out, and he could hear the man groaning. Out of all of them, he was the only one not suffering from a serious injury. Poor Damian was hardly conscious, Tim couldn't put weight on his left leg, Steph couldn't use her right arm.

They were going to fall. He couldn't pull Jason up and his arm was slipping in the leather.

"Damn your jacket," Dick groaned, trying in vain to pull Jacob up again. "You and your fucking jacket. Why are you so fucking heavy?"

"Keep a hold of him, Nightwing," Bruce said, and Dick could hear him grunt again.

"We're gonna fall." Dick shook his head, trying his best to hold onto the line in his other hand. His knuckles ached, his muscles burned. Maybe he could get his line out if they fell, but maybe they would fall. Maybe Dick would let go when his line went taunt and jerked and Jason would plummet to his death.

"You're not going to fall," Bruce said, and Dick was about to protest when he looked up and saw Tim and Stephanie reaching out to them. He felt Tim grabbing his forearm, pulling with all his might, very strong for his small size.

Stephanie grabbed the back of Jason's jacket in her good hand and pulled with, not getting very far because Jason was almost as heavy as Bruce.

"Someone help me, please," she said, tears streaming down her face as she pulled. Dick scrambled up, finally grabbed Jason's wrist with both hands and pulled until he was falling back on his ass on the rooftop and Stephanie was gathering Jason in her arm, crying to herself.

* * *

When Jason woke up, he wasn't in hell.

Which was shocking because he was pretty sure that a 10 story building fell on top of him.

Instead the ceiling of his old bedroom was glaring down at him, and for a second he thought maybe this was his life flashing before his eyes.

Then he heard a baby crying and figured that part of his life was at the end so he had to be alive.

His head pounded, and there was a little ringing in his ears, but he could hear Stephanie shushing the crying over that. Everything in his body ached, but there was also a pleasant numbness of the drug induced variety across his person.

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to rock a baby with one arm?" Stephanie suddenly asked, and Jason turned his head to look at her. She was pacing, bouncing the wailing little girl in her good arm, the other in a cast and sling.

"Let me," Jason said, grunting as he sat up.

"You’re on so many drugs, Jay," she shook her head, but sat beside him on the bed, reaching out to press a button on the wall.

"Hey, princess, what's wrong?" Jason asked, reaching over to put her pacifier back into her mouth. Steph was probably right not letting him hold her yet, he was having a hard time maneuvering that. Which was saying something because their daughter was screaming with her mouth wide open.

"Her daddy almost got crushed by a building and died," Stephanie said, raising her brows. "She's almost as pissed as mommy about it."

"Steph-"

He didn't get the chance to finish his thought though, as the door opened and the whole caravan rushed in. Dick also had his arm in a sling, though no cast since it was for his dislocated shoulder. Tim was on crutches, his bare foot wrapped expertly. Damian looked pretty tired as he wandered in, and Alfred was rushing to check his vitals.

"You're up," Dick said, sitting at the foot of the bed.

"Not by choice." Jason scoffed, and Steph elbowed him with her cast. "How are you all?"

"I have a severely sprained ankle," Tim said shrugging a bit, though his crutches forced his shoulders up already.

"I dislocated my shoulder pretty bad, and Dames here got a severe concussion," Dick said, motioning to the boy who looked about ready to crash. "You're not light, Jay."

"Huh?" Jason asked, furrow on his brows.

"Who do you think caught you, genius?" Steph asked with a scoff. She got up from her seat, bouncing with the baby out into the hall.

Dick must have grabbed him before they went down. With his bad shoulder and everything.

"She's mad, right?" He asked, hoping to avoid the awkward.

"Oh yeah," Tim nodded. "Fuming. Livid."

"I get it," Jason growled.

"I'll see if I can get her to calm down a little," Tim said, nudging Damian to follow him out the door. Damian obliged, probably still being monitored.

"Your vitals look okay," Alfred said, standing up straight. "I'll be back to administer more medication in about an hour."

"You're the best, Alf," Jason said, and the man smiled down at him before leaving the two brothers alone.

"So, you?" Jason asked, raising a brow.

"Well I wasn’t just gonna let you fall to your death," Dick shrugged. "Grabbed you after you got knocked out."

"I guess I should say thanks, right?"

"I'd do it anyways," Dick said. "No one I'd rather be staring down the face of death with while we dangle 90 feet above the ground. Can you do me a favor though and not wear the jacket next time?"

"Sure next time I feel like facing my doom, I'll leave my jacket at home," Jason scoffed. Dick got up and enveloped him in a hug. "Sorry about your shoulder."

"Sorry about your whole body. You hit the brick wall pretty hard," Dick smiled sadly, and they bother heard the door open and saw Bruce walk in, smiling fondly at the two.

"Sure feels like I got hit by a train," Jason nodded.

“Your ribs are all either broken, cracked, or bruised,” Bruce supplied. “And you’ve got a bit of a concussion. And you’ve got some deep tissue bruising.”

“So basically I’m stuck here for a while,” Jason said, and Bruce nodded.

“I’d say so,” He said. “But with you and Stephanie both injured, the extra help might be a good thing.”

“Yeah, Uncle Dick and Grandpa Bruce have been keeping an eye on her since we got home yesterday,” Dick said with a nod and a smile.

“Well maybe Uncle Dick and Grandpa Bruce can take her so we can talk,” Stephanie said, striding back into the room. Bruce nodded, stepping forward first to place a kiss to Jason’s white streak. He liked to focus his attention there. Then he was reaching out to take Catherine, leading Dick out into the hall and shutting the door behind them.

“Hey, Chickadee,” Jason said, putting on an easy smile as his wife put a hand on her hip.

“Don’t Chickadee me, Jason,” She shook her head. “You were going to leave me and Catherine and you know it.”

“Look, Stephie, if it comes down to it, I’d give myself for you any day,” Jason sighed. “Catherine needs you way more than she needs me. And if something happened to you, I’d never forgive myself.”

“She needs you too, Jason,” She argued, sitting at the foot of the bed. “And I need you.”

“No, Steph, you’d be okay-“

“Don’t you tell me what I’d be,” She said, sending a glare his way.

“What do you want me to say, Steph?” Jason asked, running a hand through his hair. “I never want to leave you. But I was the strongest there, I’m tallest, I wasn’t injured majorly. I was the best one to get everyone out. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Or the one.”

“Don’t throw that shit at me,” She growled, scooting closer until she was beside him.

“I’m sorry, okay? But I’d do it again,” Jason reached up to cup her face, run his thumb over her cheekbone. “I mean, one of us had to get out, and Catherine needs a mom. And hell, Tim’s in the process of adopting, and Dick’s a cop, the Blud needs him. Damian’s just a little kid. It had to be me.”

“Just don’t be a hero next time,” Stephanie mumbled, leaning into his side and closing her eyes.

“It’s what we do, baby,” He kissed her temple, letting his eyes close.

“Don’t fall asleep, you have a concussion,” She said, and Jason’s eyes shot open.

“So, what I have to sit here and watch you sleep?” He asked, furrowing his brows. “This some kind of sick torture?”

“I call it more of revenge,” She said with a yawn. “You deserve it.”

“Yeah, maybe I do,” Jason sighed, kissing her temple once more.


End file.
